Attempting multiple loop selects with Alt+LMB; faces are being selected in some parts as well?
The faces are not being selected, Blender auto-highlights faces that you have selected all the vertices/edges for.

When you are switching from edge to vertex mode, all vertices connected to the selected edges are selected. However, if those vertices happen to encompass the entire face, the entire face becomes highlighted. Then when you switch back from vertex selection to edge/face selection, all edges/face between/surrounded by the highlighted vertices are selected.

This is demonstrated below on a cube. I first selected the top and bottom edges, then switched to vertex mode. When you switch back to edge mode, all edges between adjacent vertices are highlighted, resulting in you having all four edges selected.